Close Harbour Seafood – Plantsville, Connecticut

I could‏ best explain this roll as a case of false advertising. I was very excited to try this roll because on their website, there is a large photo of a fab looking lobster roll that clearly shows a whole split tail, both halves, not cut up. Sadly, not only was there no whole tail, but no tail meat at all. Major letdown. This is not to say that it wasn’t a good roll, it was. Chunky, buttery, not soggy, came with yummy fries that are kind of crusty, in a good way. It was the discrepancy between the photo and the actual that really made me grumpy. Also, not a lot of atmosphere here. It’s a cute little restaurant and fish market inside, but from the outside, it’s in a less than desireable spot and hard to find. They do have a hot king crab roll, sounds good. When writing this, I checked out their website again and the photo of a lobster roll with large tail meat is still there. They even have a video now that shows how they make a perfect lobster roll and they clearly include tail meat. Grr, it looks so good in the video, it makes me want to try it again to see if maybe I just caught them on a day they were out of tail meat…maybe.

They must have known you were coming, because my roll didn’t look anywhere near that good. The lobster was fresh, but because some of the meat was from a broken claw, (Think of a claw that was damaged in battle and the lobster lived. It almost looked like steamer skin.) It never should have been served. They weren’t friendly, and didn’t seem too equipped for food preparation. To me, it seemed like a place to buy fresh seafood and prepare it yourself.

Sam the Clams is on the same road (Generous, but not unique). I hope you tried them too. There’s so many around here. Good luck with the ambitious quest!

I prefer the Glennwood Drive-In in this area. They are consistent and great for year round in inland CT. (Hot, buttered, toasted and served on a New England roll). They are in Hamden.

Westbrook in Wallingford is OK, but very inconsistent. (Small size, large price, poor service.)

Love their lobster rolls. I’m someone who would rather have a roll full of claw and knuckle meat. I think it tends to be much sweeter. The tail meat in hot lobster rolls can also be over cooked and become chewy.